


A Stroll in Town

by 105ttt



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Gen, this is mangaverse only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24831067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/105ttt/pseuds/105ttt
Summary: Red discovers that he is lacking food to cook with in the castle kitchen, so he plans to go to the market. He decides to invite Vio to come along. The trip helps the two heroes bond, and they each show each other that they care about each other in their own unique ways.
Relationships: Red Link & Vio Link
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Sunlight poured into Red's room as the sun rose over the horizon. The knight was wrapped up in a bundle of blankets, snuggling his pillow and occasionally giggling in his sleep. As the sunlight made its way around the room, bathing everything it touched in a warm glow, Red continued to snore quietly. When the light finally passed over his eyelids, Red woke up with a gasp, escaped from his cocoon of blankets as quickly as he could, then threw open his door and ran into the hallway.

"Gotcha!" He singsonged as he pointed to Green, who had stumbled into the hallway half-asleep. The other boy laughed.

"I figured I would still try to beat you to waking up first, even if I'm still pretty sleepy," Green admitted before yawning and walking back into his room.

"Do you have any requests for breakfast?"

"No, not particularly. I know that it'll be great, no matter what you cook."

"Aw, Green!"

"What? It's a fact."

"Hehe, I guess. Thank you!"

Green gave Red a final nod, then closed the door to his room behind him. Red smiled. He was happy that Green was actually going back to sleep. Sometimes Green would insist on staying awake, even if he seemed ready to fall asleep on the spot. Knowing that everyone would be properly rested by the time he was done preparing breakfast made Red feel all the more relieved.

Well, it was about time he got to cooking! Red began to make his way to the castle kitchen, transitioning from a regular walk to a skip every now and then. As he reached the kitchen, he began listing out ingredients to himself without realizing it.

"Okay… sugar, eggs, milk… butter... "

Something was off. Red's left hand passed over the items in the cabinet he was looking for. Someone had either misplaced the flour, or there was none left. He checked every place in the kitchen that he could think of-in the cupboards, the other cabinets, and on the open shelves. Nothing. He shook his head. There was no way that he would be able to get any flour until the market opened, but it usually didn't open until later in the morning. For now, he would have to prepare something else.

Vio was the first to enter the dining room near the kitchen some time after Red had begun to cook. Red spotted him walking in, then ran to his side and gave him a small hug.

"Good morning, Vio!"

"Good morning."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Pretty well, yes. How about you?"

"Oh, well, I had a really nice dream!"

"Did you? I would love to hear about it."

"I'm going to wait until everyone else is here to hear about it!"

"Alright."

Red smiled, then walked back to where he had been working on the meal while Vio sat himself at the table. As Red cooked, he and Vio chatted across rooms.

"I'm really sorry that breakfast isn't ready yet! I couldn't find any flour for what I was planning on cooking."

"That's alright. Nobody else is awake yet, so you have time."

"You don't mind waiting, do you? I might take a while to finish what I'm preparing…"

"Not at all."

"Okay."

A few minutes passed before Red reentered the dining room. In his hands were two plates of eggs sprinkled with pepper, which he set down by two seats on the table. He then returned to the kitchen and came back with a similar set of plates, one of which he set in front of Vio.

"Feel free to eat whenever you want! I just need to get my plate and set it down, and then I'll join you!" Red commented before retrieving his own plate.

When he was in the dining room once more, he saw that Vio had taken out a book and begun reading it. About the same time, Blue trudged into the room, wiping his eyes before seating himself to Vio's left. Red beamed at his other teammate, then gave him a hug as well after setting his own plate on the table.

"Hi, Blue!"

"Heya, champ," Blue mumbled as he gave Red a small noogie. Red chuckled.

"You're still sleepy, Blue."

"Nothing some food can't fix! I'm starving," Blue declared as he grabbed for his fork, then licked his lips in anticipation of his meal. Before he could lift the first bite to his mouth, however, his face shifted from a hungry grin to a scowl. He glared at his plate.

"Red?"

Red flinched. "Yeah?"

"Where's the bread?"

"Oh, uh… we were out of flour. I couldn't make any."

Blue grumbled, then played with the yolk of one of the eggs on his plate.

"How am I going to collect the yolk if it spills onto the plate?"

"You could ask for a spoon," Vio chimed in.

"I'll get you one!" Red offered, then left for the kitchen as quickly as possible.

Blue gave a small, sleepy grunt as a sign of thanks, then poked at the egg yolk again. The two heroes sat in silence until it was broken by the entry of the remaining two heroes. Shadow entered with an energetic laugh, his left arm wrapped around Green. Green, on the other hand, still had visible bags under his eyes and hunched a little.

"Morning, team," Green greeted everyone before yawning.

"Morning," Blue and Vio replied in unison.

"Well, what do we have here? Is Vio reading?" Shadow asked jokingly, walking over to Vio's seat and grabbing for the book. Vio moved it just out of Shadow's reach every time, motivating the demon to only try harder. With a decisive stroke, Shadow's hand finally met the cover of the book, and he yanked it away from its owner.

Shadow grinned at Vio. "Thought you could outsmart me? Shame on you!"

He rapidly skimmed through the pages of the book, eyes moving furiously across the paper.

"Nothing interesting. Here."

Vio accepted the book back, then opened back to his spot and continued reading. Blue scoffed at Shadow.

"What were you expecting, Shadow? A fantasy novel?"

"Alright, you two," said Green. "Vio, you should pause your reading until you finish your breakfast."

"Can I wait until Red gets here before I stop reading?"

Green sighed, then shook his head. "I guess."

"Thank you."

Green and Shadow started eating while Vio read and Blue impatiently crossed his arms. It only took a few seconds for Red to return to the kitchen with a spoon for Blue.

"I'm sorry!" Red frantically apologized as he handed the spoon to Blue. "I made sure the spoon was clean for you, Blue! I know I took too long, but I thought about figuring out what else I need to get at the market today, so I made a list first before getting the spoon for you."

"Are you short on ingredients, Red?" Green inquired before taking a particularly messy bite of an egg. Some of the yolk dripped onto his chin, causing Blue to grimace as he caught sight of it.

Red sat down. "Yeah, I am! I was going to make some fresh bread for breakfast, but I'm out of flour. I found some other things I need, too, so I'm going out as soon as the market opens."

"Do you want anyone to come with you? I wouldn't mind going," Green offered.

"No, I think you should go back to sleep after breakfast, Green. You still need lots of rest. I'll go with someone else."

"I'll be fine…" Green's voice trailed off before his eyes closed, almost involuntarily. Within three seconds, he began to breathe slowly.

"Yeah, totally fine." Shadow snickered.

Blue got up from his seat, making his way to the other side of the table. When he got to Green's side, he breathed out in concentration, then pulled his fist back. Red gasped.

"Blue, wai-"

It was too late. Blue's fist had been launched into Green's right side, causing him to wake with stir. He turned to Blue, then gave him a light punch in his left side.

"Dude! What was that for?" He asked, frowning in frustration.

"I couldn't resist."

"I thought food was supposed to give people energy…"

"Well, your body does need time to work," Vio responded as he finished a bite of his food.

"I guess you're right."

Red stood up from his seat, then walked over to Green and put a hand on his left shoulder.

"See? You need to go back to sleep!"

"Okay, I hear you. Let me finish my breakfast first, okay?"

Red smiled at Green, then returned to his seat.

After a few more minutes of talking and eating, the five heroes had finished their meals. Blue set his fork and spoon down, then burped. Vio and Green both frowned at him in disgust.

"Now that's how you eat breakfast!" Shadow laughed.

"With a punch and a burp?" Vio asked flatly.

"Yeah!" Shadow replied, licking the last bit of yolk off of his plate.

"Blue! Shadow!" Red whined, seeing their vulgar behavior.

"It just means it was a good meal! Right, Blue?"

"You bet, Shads."

Green rolled his eyes. "Save it for dinner."

"Oh, so we have your permission to do that at dinner? Sweet!"

Shadow teleported to the other side of the table to give Blue a fist bump, which Blue returned.

"If you're in such a good mood, Shadow, how about you go spar with me? Green's too sleepy to train with me today," Blue winked at Shadow and then looked at Green as he delivered the question. The amount of annoyance on Green's face was priceless.

"Really?" Shadow's eyes lit up a bit.

"Sure! We haven't sparred one-on-one yet! I want to see what you can do."

"Then, let's get going! I have to warn you, though-I won't go easy on you!"

"Don't expect me to go easy on you, either!"

Sure enough, Blue and Shadow exited the room before anyone could tell what happened. Vio laughed.

"What's so funny, Vio?" Red asked, eyebrows arched.

"Shadow's been waiting for Blue to ask him to train with him for a long time. He was talking about it the other day."

"Aw, how nice! I hope they have fun!"

"Me too," Green added before getting out of his seat. He thanked Red for breakfast, gave him a sloppy hug, then yawned and left for his room. When Green was out of the room, Red began collecting dirty dishes off of the table and taking them to the kitchen to be cleaned. Vio stayed seated, reading his book again.

After Red had collected all of the dishes from the table, he walked to Vio's side and crouched down until the pages of the book were eye-level with him. He tried to read along, but the words didn't make much sense to him.

"Vio?"

"Oh, I didn't notice you there, Red. What is it?"

"I thought I'd try to read that book you're reading, but…"

Red didn't see it, but as the sentence left his mouth, Vio's face broke into an involuntary grin.

"Is there something that you don't understand in the book?"

"A little bit…" Red admitted, looking away in embarrassment.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't understand it either unless someone had explained it to me, too."

"I guess so."

"Do you want me to explain it to you?"

Red looked back to Vio. He noticed how much his face had changed. Vio's eyes were more alive than usual. Red tried to look as cheerful as Vio did to let him know he was interested.

"If you don't mind explaining, it would be nice!"

"It's no trouble at all."

The two of them sat there for about an hour, reading together and pausing whenever Red had a question. Vio would do his best to provide a thorough answer, and then it was back to reading in silence. When they had finished the current chapter of the book, Vio bookmarked his spot and got up from his seat. Red was amazed at how much time had passed. It had felt a lot longer than only an hour.

"Well, I think I'll head back to my room. If you ever want to read some more, you can always stop by."

"Okay!"

Red stood up as well, then began to walk towards the kitchen. Right as his hand met the kitchen door, he stopped. After he washed the dishes, he was going to need someone to accompany him on his trip to the market. He turned around, then called out.

"Vio!"

Vio turned around to face Red.

"Hm?"

"Do you mind going with me to the market in about twenty minutes? I can't ask Green because he's asleep, and Blue and Shadow will probably be sparring until lunchtime."

Vio put his hand to his chin for a second as he thought, then gave Red a response.

"I don't mind. Just let me know when you're ready to head out, okay?"

"Alrighty! Thank you!"

"You're welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

"Vio!" Red said as he opened the door to Vio's room. The other hero had just finished getting dressed in his typical attire. "Are you ready to head out?"

"I think so. I already put everything I'll need in my cap."

"Okay! Let's go!"

Red began to hum and walked down the long hallway towards the main entrance to the castle. Vio tagged along behind him, shaking his head. Seeing his teammate so eager to go outside was a bit comical. Red must have a lot of energy, he thought.

Red politely asked the guards patrolling the entrance to allow them to pass, then ran out of the door the moment it was open. To his right, he spotted Blue and Shadow sparring in the distance. He cupped his hands over his mouth.

"HEY! BLUE! SHADOW! WE'LL SEE YOU LATER!"

From the distance, Blue gave a faint "alright!" while Shadow replied "see you!" before continuing their training. Red giggled, then strode along the path towards town. Vio walked to his left side, looking around for anything interesting that he could take notes on later. At some point, Red gave Vio's right hand a small squeeze with his left hand.

Vio gave Red's left hand a small squeeze back.

The marketplace was full of all kinds of stores and all kinds of people. Small general stores typically run by a family sold potions and small miscellaneous objects. Specialty shops run by professionals sold clothes, weapons, tools, and other products. Fresh food, however, was sold in an open-air market. To any tourist in Castle Town, the market would seem like a mess, but Red had visited enough times to know where the best deals and best vendors were.

"Okay, let me see if I remembered to bring the list…" Red whispered to himself before removing his cap and rummaging through it for a piece of parchment. He found it fairly quickly, then began scanning it to see where the closest item would be.

"Looks like… We need some carrots! Those would be over there! We can get some other things from the same stand."

Red sprinted towards his destination, taking Vio with him. They stopped abruptly in front of a vegetable stand, and in what seemed like less than two minutes to Vio, Red had paid for all of the vegetables and was now placing them into a sack that he had brought along to carry everything.

"That was fast."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. The woman who runs this stand knows me. I'm a regular customer!" Red laughed, scratching the hair on the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You must be pretty savvy when it comes to shopping here."

"Savvy?" Red repeated, looking up in thought. "I guess you could say that."

"How about I carry that sack for you? You're going to be handling a lot of Rupees, so you'll need to be able to move quickly without something blocking your mobility."

"Really? Thank you!"

Red removed the sack from his side before handing it to Vio, who carefully slung it over his shoulder. They moved on, going from stand to stand and navigating the crowd of people. Occasionally, Red would run into someone, but it seemed he was known by almost everyone there. This baffled Vio. Red was a hero, so his popularity shouldn't be so much of a surprise, but people were extremely friendly to him. Likewise, Red was extremely friendly with them.

"Hey, Red!"

"How are you, Red?"

"Not with Green today, I see, Red?" One child asked as the entourage walked by.

"Haha, no. He had to rest. This is Vio, another one of my teammates!" Red answered, motioning to Vio. The child bowed to him. Vio did the same, but some of the groceries fell out of the sack as he did so.

"I've got it!" The child said, then joined Red in placing everything back into the sack. Both Vio and Red thanked them.

"No problem!" They said with a smile.

"We'll see you later!"

Red waved at the child as he and Vio continued their shopping. When they were out of the child's earshot, Vio looked at Red.

"That kid knows who Green is?"

"Well, yeah! Green usually comes along with me whenever I shop here."

"I knew that, but I figured he wasn't as known around here as you."

"No, people pretty much recognize us equally."

Vio shrugged, then the two of them walked on.

One by one, the items on Red's list were completed. After about two hours, Red did one final check to see if they had bought everything.

"Tea leaves… flour… There! We've got everything! And I had just enough money!"

"Shall we head back?"

"Yep!"

The two of them headed to the back of the marketplace, Red singing to himself as he walked absentmindedly through the crowd. Vio kept close behind, though the sack on his side was a lot heavier now than it had been when they first arrived at the market.

"Is that sack slowing you down, Vio? Do you want me to help?"

"I think I can handle it, but thank y-"

Red had already ran back to Vio's left side and was partially supporting the sack with his right hand. Vio sighed in relief and thanked him.

"No problem! Let's go."

They walked for a few feet until they passed the front of a toy shop.

"Oh! Wait a minute, Vio! I need to check out what they have at that shop! I always make sure to stop in there on the way back to the castle!"

Red let go of the sack and dashed over to the toy shop's front door before rushing in. Vio fell due to the sudden increase in weight on his left side. It took a few minutes for him to gather all of the groceries he had dropped for a second time, but after everything was back in place, he entered the toy shop as well.

Within the time it had taken Vio to gather the groceries, Red had already found something that caught his eye. In his arms was what looked like a small, fluffy cream-colored rabbit. As Vio walked over to where Red was cuddling the stuffed rabbit, Red held it out to him.

"It's so soft! Hug it, Vio! It's perfect! Look, it even has a cute, little red bowtie!"

"I'll pass, Red."

"I have to see if I have enough Rupees left to buy it!"

Red began reaching for his cap after setting the rabbit onto a store shelf, then his hand froze in the air. The radiant smile on his face shifted to a small frown.

"I only brought enough to get the food… I forgot."

Red sighed, then looked at the bunny. Almost suddenly, he burst into tears and hugged it.

"I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU, MR. FLUFFYKINS!"

"Mr. Fluffykins?" Vio repeated, rolling his eyes a little at Red's dramatic behavior.

"Yes," Red said after a sniffle. "I was going to name him that."

Red stood there in silence after that, still clutching the stuffed animal to his chest. Now that Red had calmed down, Vio couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. Red's eyes were still watering a bit, and he kept on petting the top of the rabbit's head as if he would never see it again. Obviously, Red would get over this the next day if they left. Yes, he would cry about it a bit more, but then he'd see something else a few days from now and want it just as badly. The rabbit would probably be sitting there in the shop the next day too if Red really wanted to try and buy it when he had money.

And yet Vio was already making his way to the shopkeeper to ask how much it costs. Red watched him in curiosity.

"How much do you charge for the stuffed animal that the boy in red over there is holding?"

"Oh, that one? About 50 Rupees. Were you interested in buying it?"

"If I may."

"Certainly!"

Vio nodded, then took off his cap and searched for his wallet. When he found it, he picked out a purple Rupee. Before he could hand it to the shopkeeper, however, Red ran over to him and got between Vio and the shopkeeper.

"Vio! Are you serious?"

"About what?"

"About buying this for me!" Red clarified, holding up the rabbit.

"Yes. Why?"

"You-you don't have to!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Well, I mean… It's really nice of you to try to get something for me, but I'm just being a crybaby as usual! I should have calmed down! It wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get this rabbit-even if I was acting like it would be…"

"Red, you're fine. I really don't mind getting this for you."

"Are you really sure? I don't want you to waste your money on me."

"It's not a waste of money. … You know the saying, 'time is money'?"

"Yes?"

"Well, you spent some of your time on me this morning. Most people would have said that was a waste of time. You saw how Shadow labeled off my book as having nothing interesting in it. You actually tried to understand it, though. I'm just returning the favor by spending my money on something you want. That isn't a waste, in my opinion. Do you see what I'm trying to say, Red?"

Red stood without making a noise for a few seconds before bursting into tears again and hugging Vio tightly.

"Thank you…" He said tearfully while nuzzling the right side of Vio's face.

"Alright, alright. I'm going to drop the groceries again if you don't let go. Come on. Your tears are getting my face wet."

"Okay…"

Red let go of Vio, then allowed Vio to pay the shopkeeper.

"Thank you kindly!" The shopkeeper remarked, then turned to Red. "Take good care of that rabbit for me."

"I will!" Red responded, his mouth and eyes beaming.

The two heroes thanked the shopkeeper, then finally made their way to the castle uninterrupted.

Red smiled and talked to the rabbit the whole time. Vio smiled, too.

Epilogue

When Red and Vio returned to the castle, the other three Links were sitting in the dining room.

"Hey, you two!" Shadow greeted them with a wave. He seemed to be happy with himself, boasting a wide grin.

"How did training go?" Vio asked, catching onto Shadow's hint that he had done exceedingly well.

"Oh, you know. We sparred. I learned some new sword-fighting stuff. I did way better and basically pounded Blue to the ground."

Blue's eyebrows pressed in on his eyes, and he frowned almost immediately. "YOU DID NOT!"

"Yes, I did."

"HOW ABOUT A REMATCH, THEN? C'MON, YOU AND ME, RIGHT N-"

"Blue, calm down! I'm sure you did a good job, too," Green interjected. He walked to Blue and set a hand on his left shoulder, but Blue pushed it away.

"Don't do that. I don't need any consolation," Blue pouted as he crossed his arms. His breathing slowed a little.

"Anyway, what's that you have there, Red?" Shadow pointed to the stuffed rabbit.

"It's Mr. Fluffykins! Vio bought it for me after we got the groceries I needed!" Red showed the rabbit to Shadow, who took it and inspected it closer.

"He's very cute."

"I know!"

"You want to go play with him and your other stuffed animals?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Shadow and Red ran off with the rabbit, leaving Green, Blue, and Vio to sort the groceries and put them in the kitchen for Red. As they emptied the sack of food, Green stood by Vio's side and gave him a pat on the back.

"You made Red very happy. I'm sure he appreciated you going with him to the market."

"It's the least I could have done for him. It was nice to get some time to bond, anyway. We all need more one-on-one bonding with each other, I'd say."

"Yeah, we do."

"Well, I'll tell you what," Blue joined in. "I have had enough of Shadow for a while."

Green and Vio laughed at the remark, then Green spoke first.

"I'm sure you have, Blue."

"Yeah, whatever. Go get those two and tell them to come help."

"You do it."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"You're the one who wants their help. Vio and I are just fine with the current amount of hands working right now."

Blue grunted. "Fine. I'll get them."

Within a few minutes, all five heroes were helping with putting the food away. Blue and Shadow let out sighs of relief when they had finished.

"See? I told you it would be better if we all worked together on this!" Blue bragged.

"You never said anything like that. You just complained about the work," Green corrected him.

"Shut up."

"Red, do you want to get back to what we were doing?" Shadow nudged Red on the side with his elbow. Red nodded.

"I'm going to go work on our schedule for tomorrow. If you all need something, let me know," Green informed everyone before leaving the kitchen.

"Call me for lunch!" Blue commented before holding his hands behind his head and walking out of the kitchen as well. Red and Shadow left behind him.

Vio was the last to leave, making sure to close the kitchen door.


End file.
